In the art of hand operated impact tools of the general type disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,050,095, No. 4,310,057 and No. 5,058,686, it is frequently desirable to use the tool for driving rods or stakes or other articles of various sizes or shapes into the ground and sometimes precisely vertical, such as required by surveyors' stakes. It is also desirable for the impact tool to accommodate the various sizes and shapes of articles without requiring different couplings or inserts within a coupling. In addition, it has been found desirable for a hand operated impact tool to be electrically insulated from the article being driven into the ground. This is especially important when driving a grounding rod into the ground in order to prevent the operator from being electrically shocked should the rod accidentally penetrate an underground electrical cable.